Film/Text/Culture Autoblog -Summer 07

Eleven years ago to the day I was sitting in a movie theatre with my family watching, “Independence Day”. I know that movie has since been deemed one of the most ridiculous of all time, but I have to say that as a 12 year old that movie was amazing. I’m sure if I watched it now without having seen it before I would have a completely different opinion, but I can’t forget how much I loved that movie once upon a time. I wouldn’t begin to analyze that movie as a work of art, but I can’t deny I think it’s great. I encourage anyone who fears the world will be annihilated by creepy and repulsive aliens to remember Will Smith fighting for truth, justice, and the American way.
I hope everyone has a good 4th of July.

Original post by kcannon

I know this blog is not a confession box, but I find myself involuntarily telling more about myself that I would probably ever tell in face to face conversation. My apologies, but it cannot be helped. My confession is that I have never taken any sort of film analysis class and I haven’t thought about movies beyond whether or not I like them. I love movies but have never paid attention to the details such as we have been doing in class. Hopefully I will get better at this analysis thing as the semester progresses, but until then I shall have to start where I can. The following is my attempt to delve into the mysterious and crafty minds of our friends The Coen Brothers:
Miller’s Crossing—a movie I had not even heard of nonetheless seen before this class. Previously, the only Coen Brothers films I have […]

Original post by kcannon

Original post by Amanda

Movies versus Literature
Movies being discussed is fairly normal, most everyone watches movies.  As for literature, it is not discussed nearly as often.  Your average person has no problem going and watching a movie, it doesn’t take much effort to watch a movie.  Yet the average person is not as concerned with reading literature, too much effort to read for some.  Reading requires someone to use their imagination, and to think (I know, Oh wow, You HAVE to think?!).  As much as I enjoy a good movie, it does not usually take as much effort to follow the plot.  To watch a movie, you don’t have to imagine how the characters move and speak.  To read, you try to picture how the characters look, move, and speak. Essentially, movies are discussed more than literature because people are lazy. You can watch tons of movies in a day and it’s not too […]

Original post by Amanda

Yesterday’s class discussion brought me to my local Blockbuster. It was interesting to observe the layout of the store, and how the aspect of categories, or genre really does play a big part in the films that people choose to see. The categories for this particular Blockbuster consisted of New Release, Comedy, Drama, Action, Horror, Foreign Films, as well as a Family/Children’s section. I suppose that there are benefits to limiting the amount of categories used, but I couldn’t help but wonder how it might be nice to have a section just for Westerns, or perhaps film noirs. I can understand how that may be difficult considering that so many films contain a plethora of different elements; and it’s probably easier for everyone invoved to say, “well, this one is more likely to make people laugh, so it’s a comedy; or this one has more depressing […]

Original post by ellie

So…first ftc day. Did everyone have fun? I know I did, except for the billions of microscopic ants crawling in my bra. Try being bitten by those buggers when you’re attempting to focus on film theory. Quite a difficult task, I’ll tell you.
In between twitching spastically, though, I enjoyed a lot of the points made in the articles we read. Especially I enjoyed the contrast between genre film and the notion of film as high art, and mutual exclusivity that seemed to exist between the two. A genre film, due to the preconceived notions involved in the concept of a genre (both in terms of syntactic and semantic elements), is prohibited by convention from ascending to the realm of high art, due to the fact that a genre film does not possess the originality or depth of a high art film. Disregarding completely the thorny issue of what makes high […]

Original post by anniek

Let’s talk about how suggestive this trailer is…

Original post by cdame2of

I hate the snobbery that is associated with the word “art.” Art to many people is supposed to be some unique, never before seen work. But honestly, I don’t get a lot of what people call “art.” At an art museum near my house, someone had sawn a table in half and mounted it on the wall and is probably making a lot of money off of it. I just don’t get it. Why would I want to look at that? I think art should be a little more enjoyable than that. Art should not be this exclusive club that only a handful of people “understand.” I think movies are a form of art. It has meaning, and the audience can enjoy it. The amount of work that goes into every scene in a movie and how deliberate everything is done is just as […]

Original post by khusband

Sanjuro, the protagonist of Yojimbo, is the quintessential cowboy of classic Westerns. He is a wanderer, drifting into defunct towns to help the helpless and defeat the unjust. His demeanor is stoic, seemingly asexual, pure and noble. Once the dynasty that held him in employment dissolved, he is left to exist on his own, and forge his own meaning. In most Westerns, or Western-esque flicks, the motivation of the main character coming to town and saving the day is clear. For money, for love, for revenge, you name it. So what is Sanjuro’s motive for intervening in the town divided by equal, opposing forces?It first appears that Sanjuro has simply found the perfect situation in which to make the most of his skills as a warrior and make a profit. After all of his playing hard to get, he gives the 30 ryo to the family of the woman held […]

Original post by cdame2of